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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ball · wind · pitch · bat · foot · vault · snap · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. vault — a safe
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. foot — a measure
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. ball — a great time
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. snap — to click
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. ball — a dance
  23. mine — for digging
  24. pitch — completely

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com